We aren’t even a month into the season and I am already out of words with this Guardians rookie class. Chase DeLauter continues to do Chase DeLauter things, Juan Brito gets called up and looks like a seasoned vet, and Parker Messick has his ERA down to 0.51 on the season after tossing 6.2 scoreless innings tonight.

It was also a huge game for José Ramírez, he went 2-4 with a solo HR and a walk. Despite the lackluster results, he had been hitting the ball hard and putting up good at bats for awhile now, it’s nice to see him finally get some good results. Angel Martinez continues to be the hottest hitter on the team, and one of the hottest hitters in the league. He went 2-5 tonight and he’s up to a .342 average with a .919 OPS. Daniel Schneemann had a huge hit in the 9th that scored two after coming in as a pinch hitter earlier in the game. Rocchio went 0-3 with a walk but had some awesome ABs. This feels like the best the Guardians offense has been in a long time. I can’t remember the last time it felt like we had this many players in the lineup contributing to winning, it has been so much fun.

I know I already mentioned Parker Messick earlier, but he deserves so much more praise. Since being called up to the MLB, his ERA is 2.04 and has 54 strikeouts to just 11 walks. The way he gets fired up after getting out of jams is so exciting to watch. Messick was phenomenal tonight, but so was the rest of the pitching staff. Erik Sabrowski continues to be the most underrated relievers in baseball, there are not many guys in the league that are as good as him right now.

The Guardians will take on the Braves again tomorrow at 7:20 pm ET on Peacock. The pitching matchup will be Tanner Bibee vs Chris Sale. Let’s go get 2/3.

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Los Angeles Dodgers scored six runs.

Even after turning a corner last season, Jack Leiter remains a work in progress. Or, perhaps a better way to say it is he’ll likely always be prone to having nights like this as long as command is never his strong suit.

Leiter collected swinging strikeouts for each of the outs in the first inning. The only problem is he also allowed two home runs in that inning, including a leadoff homer by Shohei Ohtani and a two-out, three run blast off the bat of former Home Run Derby champion Teoscar Hernandez.

Texas was in a 4-1 hole like 15 minutes into this game which isn’t where you want to be against the best team money has bought.

Leiter also walked four in his wildest appearance of the season which lasted only 3 2/3 innings on 93 pitches. In addition to the fact that Leiter’s command regressed and he simply wasn’t good tonight, the lack of innings meant the bullpen was forced to absorb more frames and they’ve already faced heavy usage in the early going.

With eight more games without an off day on this road trip, the arms will be tested.

Player of the Game: Brandon Nimmo decided to make an attempt at singlehandedly beating the Dodgers himself as the Texas right fielder homered to lead off the game, doubled later, and then hit a two-run bomb to pull Texas to within a couple of runs.

Other than Nimmo’s feats, the Rangers lineup produced just one other hit with No. 9 hitter Josh Jung singling before Nimmo’s second home run.

The fact that Leiter was neither good nor long for this game, and the fact that facing this Dodgers squad with a big early lead felt like a death sentence, the game being reasonably close late was all thanks to Nimmo until Chris Martin entered like the grim reaper to kill this one with the Dodgers tacking on their final run in the 8th.

Up Next: The Rangers close out this series trying to get off the swept-sweep-swept roller coaster counting on RHP Jacob deGrom in the finale while facing RHP Roki Sasaki for Los Angeles.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from Dodgers Stadium is scheduled for 3:10 pm CDT and you can view it on the Rangers Sports Network.

LOS ANGELES — Emmet Sheehan had his best start of the early season, backed by early home runs in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers wore their city connect uniforms for the first time in 2026, and connected right away off Rangers starter Jack Leiter. Shohei Ohtani homered to start the bottom of the first inning, extending his on-base streak to 45 games, the fifth-longest in modern Dodgers history.

With two on and two out in the first, Teoscar Hernández broke things open with a three-run home run, his first home run at Dodgers Stadium this season after hitting two during the six-game road trip.

The four-run first inning erased the very early deficit for Sheehan, who allowed a leadoff home run to Brandon Nimmo and then not much else at all to any other Rangers hitter.

Sheehan had an uneven spring training, interrupted for a bit by the flu, followed by struggles with his mechanics, affecting both his command and his fastball velocity. He needed 83 pitches to get through 3 1/3 innings in his first start of the year, then allowed three runs in the first inning of his second start before recovering to last 5 2/3 in Washington D.C.

Through it all, neither Sheehan nor the Dodgers expressed much concern, but rather were confident he’d turn things around. A slight rotation shuffle after Thursday’s off day saw Tyler Glasnow pitch the series opener, which pushed back Sheehan to Saturday, on seven full days of rest.

“I think what we’re looking for is just another step forward,” manager Dave Roberts said earlier Saturday. “He had a little extra time in between and the work he did in between, Emmet feels really good about it. The coaches feel good about the mechanics piece of it, so his entire pitch mix seems in a good spot.”

After the home run to Nimmo, Sheehan retired his next eight batters before Nimmo doubled with two outs in the third inning, but was stranded. He didn’t permit another run until the sixth inning, when Nimmo took him deep again, this time a two-run shot after a single by Josh Jung.

Nimmo had three extra-base hits and drove in all three Rangers runs off Sheehan. But the rest of the lineup had only one hit in 18 at-bats plus a walk, with six strikeouts. Sheehan got through six innings, his longest outing of the season, on just 77 pitches, and averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball after just 93.9 mph in his first two starts.

Jack Dreyer struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh, then Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth on just nine pitches, even retiring Nimmo.

Hernández doubled to open the eighth inning, and scored on a single by Andy Pages for some insurance. After throwing 23 pitches while allowing three runs in a blown save on Friday night, Edwin Díaz was not used in a save situation on Saturday, with a three-run lead to start the ninth inning.

Instead, Blake Treinen got the ball and saw two runners reach base, one by walk and one on an error by Max Muncy at third base. Facing the potential tying run at the plate, Treinen struck out Andrew McCutchen for the second out of the inning.

Rather than have Treinen face the left-handed Evan Carter, Roberts opted for left-hander Alex Vesia, who faced Rangers pinch-hitter Danny Jansen, a right-handed batter. Vesia ran the count full but struck out Jansen to earn the save on his 30th birthday.

Saturday particulars

Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (4), Teoscar Hernández (3); Brandon Nimmo 2 (3)

WP — Emmet Sheehan (2-0): 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeout

LP — Jack Leiter (1-1): 3 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

Sv — Alex Vesia (1): 1 batter, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers go for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon (1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Roki Sasaki on the mound at the start. Jacob deGrom starts for the Rangers.

Clay Holmes’ next scheduled start is Wednesday against the Dodgers, and Mets officials are confident the right-hander will be healthy enough for it.

A day after Holmes departed his start against the Athletics with left hamstring discomfort, manager Carlos Mendoza indicated Saturday that he’s optimistic Holmes will return to the mound as scheduled. However, Mendoza added that Holmes’ side session between starts will determine if he can proceed.

Mendoza added that there hasn’t been any discussion about pushing back Holmes in the rotation.

“As of right now he continues to feel good, so he’s line to make his normal start” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 11-6 to the A’s at Citi Field.

Sean Manaea would be an option to fill that rotation spot if needed.

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The Mets also have Tobias Myers stretched out in a long relief role. Christian Scott and Jonah Tong are the primary options at Triple-A Syracuse, but the Mets likely wouldn’t recall either unless an extended rotation need arises.

Holmes has pitched to a 1.50 ERA in his three starts this season. On Friday he allowed one earned run on five hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings before his hamstring discomfort removed him from the game.

Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment to create roster space for Craig Kimbrel.

The lefty Lovelady has been DFA’d five times by the Mets since joining the organization last June. Overall, he’s been DFA’d nine times in his career.

Mets pitchers went 68 innings without allowing a homer before Kodai Senga surrendered a blast to Tyler Soderstrom on Saturday. The seven-game streak was the team’s longest since Sept.19-26 in 2013 when the Mets went eight games without allowing a home run.

Carson Benge stole his fifth base of the season, tying him for fifth in the major leagues in that category.

I was in Los Angeles for an MLB The Show tournament, eating dinner at my hotel with my eyes glued to the TV on the other side of the bar, when the Chicago White Sox drafted Noah Schultz, an 18-year-old left-handed reliever from Oswego East High School, for the 26th overall pick.

“That’s my rival high school! We drafted a hometown kid,” I exclaimed!

Like many other Sox fans, I have eagerly followed Noah’s journey and have been waiting for this day for just under four years.

The now 22-year-old is set to make his MLB Debut for the White Sox in Chicago against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, April 14 at 6:40 p.m. CT.

The South Side’s No. 2 overall prospect has been virtually lights-out in hist first three games with the Charlotte Knights this season, pitching to a tune of a 1.29 ERA across 14 innings with 19 punchouts. Not to mention, he’s induced a .129 BABIP and has only allowed two walks. Noah rocks a four-pitch repertoire: 4-seam fastball, slider, changeup and cutter. And most importantly, he’s healthy. After battling a knee injury that ultimately sidelined Schultz for much of the second half of the 2025 season, Noah is recovered and ready to impact the big league club.

Now, the question is, who’s next? Tanner McDougal and Hagen Smith can’t be too far behind when it comes to the rotation.

As Noah Schultz makes his way back to Chicago, I make my way back to South Side Sox.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Aaron Judge stood at third base as the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning Saturday when the Rays intentionally walked Ben Rice to bring up Randal Grichuk.

Aaron Boone let Grichuk hit for himself in the right-on-right matchup against reliever Hunter Bigge and did not have much of an explanation afterward for why he did not send up Paul Goldschmidt as a pinch hitter instead.

“Fair. Definitely could have, should have, whatever,” Boone said after a crushing 5-4, 10-inning loss at Tropicana Field. “But definitely some consideration.”

Grichuk, who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning, was off to an 0-for-9 start to the season and made it 0-for-10 when Bigge needed just one pitch to get him to fly out to end the ninth inning.

“Just felt like it was a good spot for [Grichuk] too,” said Boone, who confirmed Goldschmidt was available off the bench. “But fair question.”

Bigge has reverse splits for his career, which is likely why the left-handed-hitting J.C. Escarra did not pinch hit for Grichuk.

But neither did Goldschmidt, and the missed opportunity loomed large as the game went to extra innings and eventually turned into a fourth straight Yankees loss.

Signed during spring training to be a lefty crusher, Grichuk has started the season 0-for-10 with five strikeouts. Eight of those at-bats came against left-handers.

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“He’s played a couple games, hasn’t gotten results, [but] he’s hit a couple balls on the screws, hit one good to center [Friday] night,” Boone said before the game. “Then obviously to start the year, with all the righties we had initially, there weren’t a lot of opportunities. So physically, I feel like he’s in a good place. Not a lot of spring at-bats, but hopefully as we get settled into the season and he gets some opportunities against some lefties, he’ll produce.”

Judge could get his second DH day of the season Sunday, with Stanton heading to the bench for the series finale against the Rays. Boone had initially planned to do that Saturday, but after the Rays bumped lefty Shane McClanahan from Sunday’s start, Stanton will likely sit Sunday against righty Drew Rasmussen.

As Ryan McMahon works to get his bat on track — he went 1-for-2 Saturday before being pinch hit for by Amed Rosarioin the seventh inning against a lefty — the Yankees are still counting on him being a staple in the lineup at third base any time Max Fried is on the mound, given his propensity for generating ground balls to the hot corner.

“That’s kind of Ryan’s superpower, especially as he tries to get it going here offensively,” Boone said. “The one thing we can count on is how good he is on that left side. With Max going, usually he’s pretty busy over there.”

Carlos Mendoza’s changes worked for one day, even if the result was another loss.

The struggling Mets lineup broke out for 10 hits and three homers in an 11-6 loss to the A’s on Saturday at Citi Field.

The manager dropped Bo Bichette to the cleanup spot for the first time this year, and moved Luis Robert Jr. to second, with Jorge Polanco in between the two after being held out of the past two games.

“Just wanted to shake some things up.” Mendoza said. “We still have pretty good hitters at the top. I wanted to give them a different look here. Getting Polanco back in the lineup helps.”

The Mets entered Saturday’s contest against the A’s having managed just three runs in the past four games. They hadn’t scored in the previous 17 innings. There was another 17-inning scoreless drought earlier in this young season. The offense has been a major problem through 14 games.

The Mets hit on Saturday. Polanco, Bichette and Francisco Alvarez all went deep.

They cut a 7-1 deficit to 7-6, before Luke Weaver was tattooed for four runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.

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“We were one at-bat away from [going ahead],” Francisco Lindor said. “We started putting together better at-bats as the game went on, but we just didn’t finish the job.”

Some of the hitting issues can be attributed to Juan Soto’s absence with a calf strain, and Polanco has been in and out of the lineup as well due to a case of left Achilles bursitis. But plenty of regulars have struggled, led by Lindor and his .167 batting average.

“I mean, these things happen, especially early in the season. It’s not something that we just fall back on, like it’s part of the game. We’re definitely going to get better and have better at-bats,” Bichette said. “Getting off to a hot start and everything rolling, I wouldn’t say it’s a normal thing.”

“Any team is better with those guys [Soto and Polanco]. But in this league, there’s no excuses. We have to step up and just have better at-bats as a team. I think we’re going to do that.”

Even in defeat, Saturday was a step in the right direction.

This game started like a chess match and ended like a street race, and once the Rays hit the gas, the Yankees could not catch a break.

For six innings, this one had all the tension of a real pitchers’ duel. Nick Martinez was not overpowering, but he was calm throughout, which against the Yankees counts for plenty. He opened the night by walking Trent Grisham, giving up a single to Cody Bellinger, then watching Bellinger steal second with Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton lurking. That looked like early trouble. Instead, Martinez struck out Rice, then got Stanton to line out. Crisis avoided.

Max Fried was doing the same thing on the other side, keeping the Rays from getting comfortable and making every baserunner feel important, especially after retiring the Rays in order in the first.

The Yankees struck first in the second when Austin Wells hit a solo homer to right, but the Rays answered right away. Junior Caminero doubled, Ben Williamson moved him over with a groundout, and Jonny DeLuca dropped a single into right to tie it at 1-1. That became the shape of the night. New York makes a move; Tampa Bay counters to keep victory within reach.

Martinez was solid through four innings in a game that felt like it might come down to whichever side blinked first. The Yankees nearly forced the issue in the fifth when Grisham walked, Bellinger singled, and Rice walked to load the bases with two outs. That ended Martinez’s night and brought Kevin Kelly in to face Stanton, which is not exactly a relaxing sentence to type, much less a situation for a reliever to face. Kelly struck him out swinging and kept the game tied. Crisis avoided again.

The Rays finally moved in front in the sixth, and Jonathan Aranda was at the center of it. Taylor Walls singled and advanced to third with some great baserunning on a Vilade single. Then Aranda lifted a sacrifice fly just shy of the warning track in left to score Walls and make it 2-1. It was exactly the kind of at-bat that matters in games like this, not trying to do too much, just a productive at-bat.

Of course, one-run leads against the Yankees never feel all that secure. In the eighth with Bryan Baker on the mound, Stanton walked, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubled. The next at-bat went about as well as it could with Wells hitting a flyout to shallow left field, preventing the pinch-runner Randal Grichuk from scoring from third. Then former Ray José Caballero ripped a two-run double to left to put the Yankees back on top 3-2. Caballero advanced to third on a balk from Baker, who had no situational awareness to realize he was attempting to pick off a runner at first that was already at second. A Rosario flyout would stop the bleeding, but after all the careful work of the first seven innings, the Yankees had flipped the game late.

The Rays countered again.

Nick Fortes doubled to start the bottom of the eighth, and Chandler Simpson came in to run. That was when the game started putting on running shoes. Simpson changes innings just by existing on the bases. Seriously, the man is a cheat code. Walls bunted him to third, then Yandy Díaz chopped one with the Yankees’ infield all the way in. The hop forced Ben Rice off his feet, giving Simpson enough time to score and pulling Rice far enough off the bag for Díaz to beat it out, tying the game 3-3.

The ninth inning started with Judge getting walked and stealing second. With two outs, the Rays intentionally walked Rice, bringing Grichuk to the plate, who flew out to close the inning. A DeLuca single was the only offense the Rays could put together in the bottom of the ninth, taking us to extras.

The tenth saw another round of moves and countermoves in this game.

The Yankees scratched across a run in the top half on Caballero’s RBI single off Cole Sulser, so the Rays came up in the bottom of the inning down 4-3.

Cedric Mullins started at second as the automatic runner. Simpson led off and dropped a soft bunt single. He has now reached base safely in all 14 games the Rays have played this year. Then he stole second because he’s what the kids call “Him.” At that point, the Yankees were no longer defending an inning. They were trying to slow down a speed demon.

Walls followed with another soft bunt single, scoring Mullins to tie the game. That made it 4-4, put Simpson on third, and cranked the pressure all the way up.

And the Yankees knew it and felt it too.

They intentionally walked Yandy Díaz to load the bases and set up the force at any base. Hunter Feduccia struck out, giving New York a brief glimmer of hope. Then they brought Cody Bellinger into the infield as an extra defender, fully committing to stop the exact kind of play the Rays wanted. Everybody in the building knew the plan. The Rays were going to put the ball on the ground, make the Yankees move fast, and trust their legs.

It still was not enough.

Aranda chopped a ball to second that got past one Yankees defender, and Chisholm couldn’t come up with it cleanly. Had he fielded it cleanly, the Yankees might have had a slim shot at turning two.

Instead, Simpson raced home, and the Rays walked off with a 5-4 win after scoring two runs in the tenth in an inning where nothing left the infield and nothing needed to. That is the sort of ending Rays fans can appreciate on a spiritual level. The Yankees pulled Bellinger in, packed the infield, and still could not keep up once Tampa Bay turned the end of an MLB game into a 9U travel ball game. Just keep running.

Aranda was the clutch bat all night. His sac fly gave the Rays the lead in the sixth, and his grounder won the game in the tenth.

Simpson was the gas in the chaos engine. His speed helped spark the tying run in the eighth, then blew open the tenth. He turned soft contact into pressure, pressure into panic, and panic into two runs. Once he got loose, the Yankees looked like they were trying to catch smoke in a glove.

The win is the Rays’ first series win at Tropicana Field since September 20-22, 2024, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rays and Yankees are back at it tomorrow as the Rays look to sweep the series. First pitch is at 1:40 pm.

Tonight was a weird one. The MASN broadcast booth got its second consecutive day off with Baltimore playing on national television. The Orioles defense added insult to some unfortunate injuries, and Chris Bassitt looked better despite experiencing some more bad luck. A runner was called out for interference, Ryan Helsley pitched in a non-save situation, and Colton Cowser made contact against multiple offspeed pitches. The O’s received production from some unlikely candidates, and the Birds evened the series with a 6-2 victory at Camden Yards.

The story of the night took place before the first pitch when Baltimore scratched Adley Rutschman from the lineup. The Orioles placed Rutschman on the 10-day injured list with left-ankle discomfort. Rutschman had looked like his old self with an .855 OPS over the first 10 games. Baltimore recalled Maverick Handley before the game, but the organization also pinch hit for catcher Sam Huff early in tonight’s Triple-A contest.

With Rutschman sidelined, it did not take long for Baltimore’s flawed defense to make an impact tonight. Rafael Devers led off the second with a single and quickly advanced to second on a passed ball by Samuel Basallo. Bassitt retired the next two batters, but Heliot Ramos managed a two-out single to center. Leody Taveras fired home, but the throw took Basallo up the third base line. Basallo—catching in place of an injured Rutschman—attempted to throw out Ramos at second, but his throw sailed into center field. Fortunately, Bassitt retired Patrick Bailey to limit the damage to only one run.

Baltimore shifted Basallo behind the plate when Rutschman went down and inserted Ryan Mountcastle as the designated hitter. Mountcastle made an instant impact by lining a ball to right center in his first at bat. San Francisco center fielder Harrison Bader bobbled the ball, and Mountcastle made the decision to keep running toward second. The bobble may have caught Mountcastle by surprise, and the veteran hitter began to stumble as he approached second. He arrived safely after a head-first slide but came up in pain. After a brief visit from the dugout, Mountcastle left the game with what the Orioles eventually called left foot pain.

O’s skipper Craig Albernaz sent Dylan Beavers to run for Mountcastle. Beavers advanced to third on a deep fly out by Taveras and reached third base with less than two outs. Colton Cowser has struggled to put the ball in play this season, but he got just enough of a low changeup to drive in Baltimore’s first run of the day with a soft dribbler.

Baltimore got its first run on a ball that traveled three feet, but the second run came on a ball that traveled much farther. Gunnar Henderson used his quick hands to turn around a high and tight cutter for his sixth home run of the season. The blast provided Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third.

Unfortunately, Baltimore’s defense let the team down again in the fourth. Matt Chapman led off with an infield single, and Bassitt nearly wiped him out with a potential double-play. Baltimore had its defense setup with a legal shift, and Henderson fielded a ball deep behind the bag. Henderson flipped the ball toward second to third baseman Coby Mayo, but Mayo failed to turn the unconventional double play. The Orioles had Rafael Devers dead to rights, but Mayo skipped a ball that Pete Alonso failed to corral.

The missed opportunity cost Baltimore a run. Devers moved up to second, and again to third, on a pair of singles before eventually scoring on a slow ground out to first base. The weak grounder evened the score at two and provided some frustration for the Saturday night crowd.

An already weird game got a little weirder after Beavers worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth. Taveras grounded a potential double play ball to second, and Beavers had to jump to avoid being struck by the ball. Beavers dodged the ball, but his foot kicked the hand of Luis Arraez. Beavers was called out for interference, but Taveras was ruled safe at first. Arraez eventually exited the game with a right wrist contusion.

Cowser smashed a changeup to right field to put runners on first and third, and Coby Mayo drove in the go-ahead run by avoiding a double play on a grounder up the middle. Jeremiah Jackson followed with a double that nearly left the yard. Mayo raced around the bases and just beat the throw home to provide Baltimore a 4-2 lead. Mayo looked uncomfortable as he popped up from the slide, but the 24-year-old stayed in the game.

Grant Wolfram, Yennier Cano and Rico Garcia kept the Giants off the board, and Jackson provided Baltimore some more insurance in the bottom of the seventh. The utility man went to left field this time and managed to clear the fence. Jackson’s first homer of the season extended the lead to three.

Anthony Nunez danced around a leadoff double to keep the score at 5-2, but Baltimore continued to add in the bottom of the eighth. Beavers punched a leadoff single to right before stealing second base. Taveras and Cowser both went down swinging, but Mayo came through with a two-out single for a 6-2 advantage.

Albernaz already had Helsley warming, and the skipper trusted his closer in a non-save situation. Helsley allowed the first two to reach before generating a double play ball and retiring Bader to end the game.

The win brought Baltimore back to .500 at 7-7. The Orioles will look to take the series tomorrow with Cade Povich set to face Adrian Houser.

Jeremiah Jackson finished 3-for-4 with a double an a homer, and Colton Cowser went 2-for4 with an RBI. Coby Mayo drove in two, and Dylan Beavers came off the bench to score two runs. Oh yeah, Gunnar Henderson hit his sixth homer of the season. Who is your pick for the most Birdland player of the day? Let us know in the comments below!